Being the first such initiative, the AFE voting PoC (Proof-of-Concept) aims to facilitate partakers to cast their votes and ensure conducting elections digitally in a transparent and fool proof manner using blockchain technology.
AFEs are utilized in the oil and gas sector for approving capital and other costs related to projects, while assessing working interests by members of a joint operating group. Blockchain based digital voting minimizes time required for conventional paper based voting process which has been used manually for years.
In particular, the PoC intends to enhance the clearance procedure and offer unalterable records of the final working procedure, and minimize errors at the same instance through the use of smart contract to assess performance in a mechanical way.
Rebecca Hofmann, Chairman of the OOC consortium, pointed that the PoC was successfully conducted by all ten consortium members within four months. She underlined that the latest blockchain powered oil and gas sector venture has illustrated the power of distributed ledger technology and also its capability to “transform fundamental oil and gas business activities.”
The OOC intends to study the likely benefits of blockchain technology in oil and gas sector since it was set up in February 2019. As per the latest announcement, the association includes 10 members to data, including ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Equinor, Hess, ExxonMobil, Marathon, Pioneer Natural Resources, Noble Energy, Shell and Repsol.
In September 2019, the OOC gave a contract to blockchain focused firm Data Gumbo to trial a venture to administer and synchronize data related to wastewater in North Dakota’s oil fields.